Match week 27 includes the three midweek games, one of which (RBNY-NYC) was rescheduled from a previous match week. 09/22/21 Inter Miami CF vs Nashville DRV PNK Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Jon Freemon AR1: Kevin Klinger AR2: Cory Richardson 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Jozef Batko Chicago Fire vs New England Revolution Soldier Field (8PM ET) REF: Lukasz Szpala AR1: Peter Manikowski AR2: Claudiu Badea 4TH: Jair Marrufo VAR: Edvin Jurisevic AVAR: Craig Lowry New York Red Bulls vs New York City FC Red Bull Arena (8PM ET) REF: Ismail Elfath AR1: Corey Parker AR2: Kyle Atkins 4TH: Robert Sibiga VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Gjovalin Bori
Elfath gave an SFP red for exactly the type of tackle many of us have been complaining about for awhile here. Directly from behind. Nominally at the ball with the lead leg (but no real chance of getting it) while the tucked leg crushes the opponent’s trail leg. So dangerous. Good for Elfath. And done without VAR. Praise and credit due.
VAR handball for a shot on goal that was a second yellow. Pretty straightforward, other than the time of the match. And I suppose the fact that Elfath made no efffort to avoid the yellow for the shot on goal, given it was a second.
I hope this is the continuation of the trend we've seen for the last couple weeks. This is not a fair challenge and is as dangerous if not more dangerous then a lunge from the front that puts studs into the leg.
And that image doesn't even really show what the tackler's tucked leg has already done to the trail leg before it gets ensnared! It wasn't pretty. And, again, it's somewhat understandable that this is challenging for referees to see because the eyes reflexively go to the lead leg's attempt at the ball. Great Elfath caught this. The next step (aside from all refs catching this sort of thing!) is VARs feeling empowered to say it's a clear and obvious error if tackles like this are not given as red cards. In the VAR era, that's where the true battle lies. Because if these aren't given consistently via VAR, it makes it really challenging to say referees are doing the right thing when they call it live without VAR.
I hope that they are. This tackle needs to leave football. Maybe Harvey Elliott's injury has woken up those in positions to do something to reverse the trend of ignoring the danger of most tackles from behind.
But Harvey Elliott said it was cool. Definitely not a red card. It's an uphill battle. And the incline is steep.
Why do you think that? There is no longer anything specific about deflections in Law 12. Outside the weird goal scoring attacker, there are just two questions: was it deliberate and was the player making himself unnaturally bigger in a way not justified by his activity? If the answer to either is yes, it is an offense. So if ITOOTR the contact was deliberate or the result of biggering, its a handball offense, regardless of any prior contact. (I'd also note that this was true last year, too, as the deflection off the body provision did not apply in cases of deliberate handling or biggering. Which always made sense--you don't get to deliberately handle the ball just because it hit your body first and you don't get to unnaturally take up space just because it hits your body first. )
09/25/21 Philadelphia Union vs Atlanta United Subaru Park (3:30PM ET) REF: Robert Sibiga AR1: Jason White AR2: Gjovalin Bori 4TH: Joshua Encarnacion VAR: Drew Fischer AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt New England Revolution vs Orlando City Gillette Stadium (7PM ET) REF: Rosendo Mendoza AR1: Peter Balciunas AR2: Jeremy Kieso 4TH: Luis Arroyo VAR: Chico Grajeda AVAR: Tom Supple Columbus Crew vs CF Montréal Lower.com Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Corey Parker AR2: Adam Garner 4TH: Baldomero Toledo VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Jose Da Silva D.C. United vs FC Cincinnati Audi Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Chris Penso AR1: Kyle Atkins AR2: Kevin Klinger 4TH: Adam Kilpatrick VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Craig Lowry Colorado Rapids vs Toronto FC Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (8PM ET) REF: Michael Radchuk AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Mike Rottersman 4TH: Alex Chilowicz VAR: Edvin Jurisevic AVAR: Diego Blas Minnesota United vs Houston Dynamo Allianz Field (8PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Ian McKay AR2: Felisha Mariscal 4TH: Greg Dopka VAR: Kevin Terry Jr AVAR: Jeff Muschik New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls Yankee Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Armando Villarreal AR1: Cameron Blanchard AR2: Logan Brown 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Carol Anne Chenard AVAR: Claudiu Badea San Jose Earthquakes vs Los Angeles FC PayPal Park (10PM ET) REF: Jair Marrufo AR1: Micheal Barwegen AR2: Jeffrey Greeson 4TH: Victor Rivas VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero AVAR: Chris Elliott Vancouver Whitecaps vs FC Dallas BC Place (10PM ET) REF: Kevin Stott AR1: Chantal Boudreau AR2: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho 4TH: Alain Ruch VAR: Geoff Gamble AVAR: Frank Anderson Portland Timbers vs Real Salt Lake Providence Park (10:30PM ET) REF: Fotis Bazakos AR1: Brian Poeschel AR2: Ryan Graves 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Younes Marrakchi AVAR: Joshua Patlak
Question for the group: During first half stoppage time of Atl-Phi, a player is injured near midfield. The injury is dealt with, and the referee runs all the way to the penalty area for the drop ball. The instant the goalie picks it up, the ref whistles for half time. A very similar thing happened at the end of the Crew- Montreal game. If you are going to blow the whistle the instant the ball is touched, why not just whistle end of half, or end of game, and not waste everyone's time and energy giving a drop?
Radchuk is relatively new right? Maybe his second or third game? I don't know anything about him or his style. Does anyone else?
09/26/21 Chicago Fire vs Nashville Soldier Field (1PM ET) REF: Ismir Pekmic AR1: Jeremy Hanson AR2: CJ Morgante 4TH: Tim Ford VAR: Alan Kelly AVAR: Eric Boria Sporting Kansas City vs Seattle Sounders Children’s Mercy Park (7PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Adam Wienckowski AR2: Matthew Nelson 4TH: Silviu Petrescu VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert Austin FC vs LA Galaxy Q2 Stadium (9:30PM ET) REF: Guido Gonzales Jr AR1: Peter Manikowski AR2: Jeffrey Swartzel 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Ismail Elfath AVAR: Jonathan Johnson
Another "question for the group". In the first half, Seattle had a shout for a PK on a tackle of Will Bruin. However, in the same sequence, Seattle then scores a few seconds later after a KC giveaway. What would have happened had VAR told Dickerson to go back and look at the tackle on Bruin and he had decided that it was, in fact, a PK. Would the goal have been taken off the board?
If I'm reading it correctly, it was a PK shout for Seattle and then a Seattle goal? Then no the VAR would never go back to award a PK. They could go back for a red card on the tackle if it was serious foul play but that would be very messy. A better example happened with Minnesota earlier this season. There was a PK not given that the VAR would have sent down as a PK and red for DOGSO, but Minnesota scored a goal before the VAR completed the check and stopped the game. So the defender didn't get sent off and the goal stood.
In addition to what @MassachusettsRef pointed out…it’s really a matter of alternative options. Joe is one of the very few non fifas that would even be in consideration. Both Ramy and Guido are still under provisional contracts and I think Mendoza is not a US citizen (and hence not eligible). Rivas and Chilowicz are the other two possibles, but as pointed out - Joe seems to have the eye of concacaf. There are also a few AR spots up for grabs. I would assume Richardson is the front runner for one of those. I don’t imagine any of the provisional ARs would get much attention so perhaps Weisbrod?
De Oliveira is eligible... *ducks* Is Chilowicz age-eligible? I feel like I was told his age once but can't remember. Rivas seems nailed-on for FIFA at some point. On very recent performance, I would think he'd be ahead of Dickerson, honestly. But Dickerson does have about a year of seniority/experience. Either way, I suspect they both make it on the list. Remember that Marrufo will almost certainly "need" to be replaced in 2023, too. That last thought just made me realize something. There could/will be referees at World Cup 2022 who already know they are off the list for 2023, since nominations will have already have been submitted and ratified by that point, giiven the late occurrence of the WC. That's different from the past summer tournaments, where referees often decide after the event whether to continue on in the fall and into the next calendar year. I imagine you still could see some retirements in early 2023, but that could mean referees might be unnecessarily taking up a spot from their country for the duration of the calendar year, so I suspect national associations will try to avoid that. Using Marrufo as the example, if he knows he won't referee in the 2023 MLS season, it would make sense to stand down when nominations are due in the fall of 2022.
That's a great point. For Marrufo, it would be quite a clean break for him. Referee through the entire 2022 MLS season (will the MLS playoffs be done before the World Cup?). Referee at the World Cup and then hang it up. You won't leave MLS in a bind if you decide to hang it up as the season starts well after the World Cup ends. But for the European referees, it won't be a clean break. How many will essentially retire in the middle of their domestic league seasons and Champions League seasons? It could make planning for those leagues and UEFA quite difficult. If four or five European referees retire after the World Cup, UEFA would be put in a somewhat of bind for the CL knockout stages which start after the World Cup. Those referees will have to decide before the World Cup. Heck, they might have to decide before the start of the 2022-2023 European season. Also, pretty much every CL Final referee goes into a World Cup with momentum (every referee that has done the CL Final this century right before the World Cup has gone on to at least referee a knockout match in the World Cup) and becomes a defacto World Cup Final favorite since that is the last big match before the World Cup Final. That won't be the case in Qatar.
I don't know if last night was still week 27 but I don't see a week 28 thread so I'll put this here: https://www.mlssoccer.com/video/was...atlanta-was-austin-fc-s-mckinze-gaines-fouled Time stamp: 3:49 Ignoring the Instant Replay announcers, what do posters here think should be the call on this? I was sitting above the goal Austin was attacking on this sequence and I was shocked nothing was called. Looking at the replay I can be convinced pretty much any combination of foul/yellow/red/PK is the correct call, but no call seems to be the wrong one. I almost understand why VAR didn't get involved though. I would think the most likely call is foul + DOGSO red. I think the foul occurs just outside the box. So there's no grounds for VAR to be involved for a PK. While I think this is DOGSO with Trusty being right there I suppose you could make a case that its not clearly DOGSO because Trusty is covering. Thus its not clearly wrong to not give a red card. So VAR wouldn't get involved for that. So there's nothing for VAR to trigger a replay on.